Pedestal mount and training mechanism for guns



T. A, CONLON PEDESTAL MOUNT AND TRAINING MECHANISM FOR GINS Oci. 12 1926.

Filed April 6, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 gwvwntoz Thnmas A-Eunlcm 3%,, Wf X Oct. 12 1926.

T. A. cpNLoN PEDESTAL MOUNT AND TRAINING MECHANISM FOR GUNS Filed April 6, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 "Y M m Zlvvuenlo o Thomas A- B 0111 cm w AAAAA I M In 017/ Ill. I

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T a it it to in i PEDESTAL IVIOUNT AND TRAINING MECHANISIE FOR GUNS.

Application filed April 6, 1925. fierial No. 21,168.

(GRANTED UNDER THE ACT 013 MAR-CH 3, 1883; 22 STAT. L. 625.)

The invention described herein may be used by the Government, or any of its officers or employees in prosecution or" work for the Government, or by any other person in the United States, without payment to me of any royalty thereon, in accordance with the act of March 3, 1883.

This invention relates to a pedestal mount and training mechanism for guns.

In using large caliber guns and guns oi" the anti-aircraft type it is absolutely es sential for correct aiming that some means be provided in the gun mount for maintaining the cradle trunnions in a horizontal plane at all times when the gun is moving A leveling apparatus for accomplishing this purpose is described in my Patent No. 1,492,962 of May 6, 1924. p

In order to maintain the gears of the traversing mechanism constantly in mesh during the leveling operation, I provide in the socket of a pedestal mount a geared housing which supports the weight of the traversing parts and which permits leveling movement of the cradle but is held against rotation to allow traversing of the top carriage or cradle supporting member.

'When traversing guns of the above type where the piece must frequently be shifted through large angles to sight on new targets it is desirable that the gears of the traversing mechanism may be quickly released or disengaged to permit traversing by pushing the gun and thus allow a more rapid movement than is obtainable through actuation of the traversing gear mechanism.

Since rapid traverse is desirable and since the weight of the traversing parts is considerable it is contemplated in the present invention to provide a friction clutch which serves the dual purpose of quickly unmeshing the traversing gears and of braking the mechanism to relieve the gearing of the stresses incident to a sudden cessation after the traversing mass has attained considerable velocity. Another equally important reason for having disengageable gears is to avoid damage to the training mec-hanisi when the gun is being transported over rough ground.

To these and other ends, my invention consists in'the construction, arrangement, and combination of elements, described hereinafter and pointed out in the claims forming a part of this specification.

A practical embodiment-o1" my invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a pedestal mount constructed in accordance with the invention and equipped with my improved training mechanism;

2 is a plan view of the training mechanism;

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view through the handwheel casing;

Fig. iis an enlarged sectional view of the clutch mechanism; and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view oi the spring pressed plunger.

eterring to the drawings bynumerals of reference:

I have shown a pedestal mount 5 having at its upper end a socket 6 adapted to receive a hemispherical housing 7 capable of universal leveling movement but held against rotational movement with respect to the pedestal by means of rectangular blocks 8 freely swinging on studs 9 in the horizontal plane of the center of the socket and disposed in keyways 10 of the housing.

The housing is bored to sreceive a large roller bearing 11, in which the spindle 12 of the top carriage 13 may revolve and is fitted with a heavy self-aligning ball thrust hearing 1% to support the weight of the traversing parts. The housing carries a fined ring gear 15 disposed exteriorly of the pedestal and with which the pinion 21 of the traversing mechanism engages. The spindle 12 which passes through apertures in the housing and socket receives in its lower extremity the ball joint connection 16 of a leveling mechanism as described in my Patent No. 1,492,962.

The casing 1'? for the traversing mechanism is secured to and is rotatable with the top carriage 13 and contains a worm wheel 18 to which is bolted the outer cone 19 ot a friction clutch. Also supported in this casing is a shaft 20 carrying the pinion 21 which is constantly in mesh with the ring gear 15 on the housing during the leveling operation by virtue of the unitary tilting movement of the top carriage 13 and the housing 1 On the upper end of the shaft 20 is loosely keyed the inner cone member 22 held in frictional engagement with its mate by a spring column 23 and disengaged therefrom by means of a screw 24: threadable in the top plate of the casing and actuated through a release lever 25. This lever is normally held in the engaged position by means of a spring pressed plunger rod 26 mounted in the casing 17 and must be manu ally moved to release the cones from engagement.

Motion is transmitted to the worm wheel 18 through a self-locking worm 27 on a shaft 28 which is driven by the gear set contained in the hand wheel gear casing 29, a shifting gear 30 being provided to drive the worm shaft at different speeds.

For the purpose of holding the clutch disengaged when the gun is retracted and locked in the traveling position, there is provided a hook 31on a chain 32 which may be readily placed in an aperture in the.

end of the lever 25.

A similar clutch mechanism may be in eluded in the elevating gear train for cooperation with arquick loading mechanism and for relieving the elevating gears of road stresses.

In leveling the cradle of the gun the movement imparted to the top carriage through its spindle causes a similar movement of the housing by virtue of the arrangement of the roller and ball bearings and the pinion 21 carried by. the top carriage is maintained constantly in mesh with the fixed gear 15 on the housing. In traversing the top carriage the pinion travels aboutthe fixed gear of the non-rotatable housin the operator r iding on a seat attached to the carriage.

hen it is desired to traverse the gun with extreme rapidity as in changing targets the release lever 25 is swung over to depress the inner cone 22 against the action of the spring column 23 until it is disengaged from the outer cone 19. Traversing the gun may then be accomplished by merely swinging the gun on its pivot. The friction clutch also acts as a brake to relieve the gears of the traversing mechanism of the stresses incident to suddenly stopping the carriage after it has attained momentum.

TVhile in the foregoing there has been il lustrated and described such combination and arrangement of elements as constitute the preferred embodiment of my invention, it is nevertheless desired to emphasize the fact that interpretation of the invention should only be conclusive when made in the light of the subjoined claims.

I claim:

1. A mount for guns embodying a pedestal formed with a socket, a hemispherical housing received in the socket, said housing provided with external keyways, studs on the pedestal, rectangular blocks swinging on the studs and disposed in the keyways to permit universal leveling movement of the housing while preventing rotation thereof, a top carriage formed with a spindle passing through apertures in the housing and pedestal, bearings in the housing for rotatably supporting the top carriage, a ring gear fixed to the housing externally of the pedestal and a training mechanism mounted on the top carriage and having a pinion constantly in mesh with the ring gear of the housing.

2. A mount for guns embodying a pedestal formed with a. socket, a hemispherical housing received in the socket, said housing provided with keyways, studs on the pedestal, blocks swinging on the studs and disnosed in the keyways to permit universal leveling movement of the housing while preventing rotation thereof, atop carriage formed with a spindle passing through apertures in the housing and pedestal, bearings in the housing for rotatably supporting the top carriage, a ring gear fixed to the housing, and a training mechanism mounted on the top carriage and having a pinion constantly in mesh with the ring gear of the housing.

3. A mount for guns embodying a pedestal formed with a socket, a member in the socket, a rotatable top carriage having a spindle depending through said member, bearings mounted in the member for rotatably supporting the top carriage, levelling means connected to the top carriage and a training mechanism carried by the carriage and geared to said member.

4? A mount for guns embodying a pedestal, a rotatable carriage mounted thereon, levelling means connected to the carriage, a training gear carried by the carriage, and a non-rotatable geared member capable of levelling movement with the carriage.

5. A training mechanism for gunsembodying a geared base, a top carriage rotat ably supported thereby, a casing secured to the carriage, a worm wheel mounted in the casing, a worm therefor, a shaft passing through the wheel, a pinion on said shaft in mesh with the geared base, an outer conesecured to the wheel, an inner cone loosely keyed on the shaft, a spring for normally holding the cones in frictional engagement, a screw in the casing, a lever for actuating the screw to disengage the cones, a spring pressed rod for normally holding said lever in inoperative position, and means whereby the lever may be held in operative position.

6. A training mechanism for guns enibodying a geared base, a top carriage ro- 5 tatably supported thereby, a casing secured to the carriage, a Worm Wheel mounted in the casing, a Worm therefor, a shaft passing through the wheel, a pinion on said shaft in mesh with the geared base, an outer cone secured to the Wheel, an inner cone loosely 10 keyed on the shaft, a spring for normally holding the cones in frictional engagement, and means for holding said cones in and out of engagement.

THOMAS A. CGNLON 

